There are several important factors that a golfer considers before and during his round of golf. One factor is proper posture during the swing and although somewhat mundane and not always pleasant, his posture when lifting a golf bag or crouching and bending to pick up his golf ball from within the cup after having successfully sunk his putt.
Whether because of back problems of simply convenience, many golfers have created unique styles for lifting the golf ball from the ground or from within the cup. Certain putters are fashioned with a relatively flat trailing portion on the putter head. The head tapers to a narrow blade at the back side of the head. This blade portion is used to scoop up the ball and flip it into the air for catching by the golfer. With training, the golfer develops his particular style for using the putter blade in a manner for which it was not. originally designed, lifting a ball or removing the ball from within the cup. The benefit of not having to bend seems to outweigh the potential danger of damaging the club itself and the damage to the greed around the cup.
Devices adapted to fitting the golf ball have been developed that are fit to a shaft. Their primary purpose is for retrieving the ball from the bottom of a pond or out of difficult places to reach. Some of these devices have been adapted for attachment to the handle or the club. The club is held by the head end and the ball is retrieved by placing the device affixed onto the gripping handle end onto the ball. Suction-like devices made of a soft rubber material have been attached to the end of the shaft as pert of the handle grip. After the ball has come to rest in the bottom of the cup, the golfer holds the putter from the head end and causes the device to grab the ball within the cup. In some cases, ball retrieving devices have been modified and affixed to the putter head or have been made a part of the putter head for lifting the ball from the ground.
Many of the devices made to be affixed to the club head or handle have interfered with the primary purpose of the club, striking the ball. Additions to the handle interfere with proper gripping of the club. Additions to the putter head have not been able to incorporate popular putter head designs. Thus, the golfer concerned about bending or convenience finds that satisfying his need can only be accomplished by sacrificing or modifying his style or his equipment. The present invention relates to satisfying this need to retrieve the golf ball without bending to do so and in particular to retrieving the golf ball from within the cup as a natural function of the putter.